Grape Seed Extract Results

As some of you know I started taking Grape Seed Extract about one month ago. I started at one 400mg capsule a day for a week and then upped it to two 400mg capsules per day for the last three weeks, the highest dosage listed on the bottle. I must say that the results have been amazing, miraculous, and unbelievable. The first week was erratic as I had a 50/50 combination of better days and worse days but after the first week my bad days went completely away and my good days continue to get better and better almost every single day. Before starting this my stools were formed, mucus free, and usually blood free. My only real problem was frequency. I was going probably about 6-12 times per day. The last couple of weeks I have only been having 2-4 BM's per day and can go several hours almost every single day. Yesterday I went 17 straight hours and I have had several 12 + hour days. I am truly amazed and so far I continue to get better.

The reason I decided to start with the Grape Seed Extract was because of my American Gut stool sample analysis which showed I had about 98% Firmicutes and about 0% Bacteriodetes. The extract is supposed to help decrease Firmicutes and increase Bacteriodetes. The correct ratio should be in the neighborhood of about 40/40. Since others that did the American Gut stool analysis seemed to come out with totally unsimilar results than mine I can't say that the extract would help you or not but there is much evidence on the web concerning Grape Seed Extract being beneficial to those with UC. Some of you might want to give it a try. As far as I know there have been zero side effects and it is relatively inexpensive. Also, please don't get it confused with Grapefruit Seed Extract. Sometime in the future I may decide to up the dose to three 400mg capsules per day.

I have been waiting to hear and appreciate your post.
Verrrry interesting. Glad you have gotten beneficial results.

I will not add it to my supps (I don't take any except Pearls probiotic right now) because I'm in a really good place gut-wise but good to know if things go off kilter. I definitely got the wrong supp years ago and took grapefruit seed extract and it was no good for my gut and I later read it had a chemical in it that may be harmful.

So I'll make my self a note: Grape Seed Extract-that's the good one. GSE right?

Yay Gary! So glad.

Hmmm, this is very interesting to me. My bowel movements are formed, occasional mucus, but I can go upwards of 6 times (still formed) per day. My GI said this was likely ibs (as in he has no answer) I wonder if GSE would have same effect on me. Glad you had success and shared, thanks!

Great news Gary! Thanks for sharing..hope it continues forever!

B

Thanks Tap. I must have missed this if you posted before.

Gary what brand are you using for the GSE?

Glad u are seeing improvement.

I tried GSE a while back (as my comprehensive stool test reported results saying I would benefit from GSE). Ordered some online and tried it for about 5 weeks with no benefit.

tap said...

American Gut places the data into a public repository so if you are willing to do the leg work then you can get the details down to the strain level.

See How to download your American Gut data and Analyze your 16s rRNS data using MG-RAST.

i did this and determined that I had about 150 different strains in my stool. I also had an unclassified bacteria accounting for over 6% of my sample.

THANK YOU tap,
I am really not interested in uBiome.
This is lot easier, I can do it myself..

Thanks for sharing, sounds interesting.

Wow Gary! That is great...hope it continues!

Soy, I'm not really sure what you are asking. I have been doing Canasa once every night for quite a while now, since before starting the Grape Seed extract. It has definitely helped but since starting the Grape Seed extract the results on my UC have been very obvious. I didn't take any Canasa last night for the first time in over a month so I guess this is the start of my tapering the Canasa to every other night.

Definitely believe you have to treat forever but the question is how and with what and how much? I don't believe you have to go full force on everything forever. I have been taking the Canasa since probably October or November. It was definitely helping some but it wasn't until I started the Grape Seed Extract at the end of January where I started getting exponentially better day by day. It was such an obvious difference and the Grape Seed extract was the only thing different during that time frame. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind about what it is doing for me. It works so extremely well I am planning to increase from two pills per day to three pills per day soon and see what happens. If the Grape Seed Extract is the most responsible for this improvement I may have to gradually taper my prescription meds and it might be theoretically possible to use the GSE and DAO only to retain what many would call remission (I don't think I'm there yet). That's a long shot though and I would take baby steps only in that direction. Very tiny baby steps, possibly taking years. I would say out of everything that I have done so far for my UC that the DAO and Grape Seed Extract has by far done more than anything else, including the prescription meds.

For those that don't know me I am not an anti-med guy who wants to convert over to natural treatments. Generally speaking I think most of this natural stuff is mostly just plain BS most of the time but I have noticed that when it comes to UC there are many "natural" things which have been proven to work in some individuals and have legitimate scientific studies behind them. I merely want to find what works best. If it's meds it's meds. If it is supplements, it is supplements, and if it is a combination of both then that's whay I'll do. I try to keep an open mind but I'm not a health or supplement nut and won't try something that has bogus credentials behind it just to join some craze.

gary, you are going to need some more probiotics too.. and maybe some lmethyltetrahydrofolate instead of the folic acid..and you have to keep at it for a good year and get on top of any gut insults in the future as it will always be a weak spot after chronic inflammation.